A low-power wireless personal area network (LoWPAN) refers to a wireless network used when information is transmitted over a relatively short distance. Unlike a wireless local area network (WLAN), the LoWPAN rarely uses an infrastructure, and thus communication through the LoWPAN provides a low-power and cost-effective solution.
FIG. 1 is a diagram for illustrating a procedure of searching for information for a service desired by a user agent in a local area network (LAN).
Referring to FIG. 1, processes (or devices) performed in a procedure of searching for the information includes a user agent 112, a directory agent 122 and a service agent 132.
The user agent 112 obtains a service information list including information for a service agent providing the service desired by the user agent 112 from the directory agent 122. For example, the service information list may include information for a service provided from the service agent 132 and an address of the service agent 132.
The user agent 112 requests the service from the service agent 132 through the address of the service agent 132 included in the service information list provided from the directory agent 122.
The service agent 132 performs the requested service by the user agent 112 and informs the user agent 112 of the results.
As described above, when the directory agent used in the conventional LAN is introduced into the LoWPAN, the user agent may not effectively search for the information for the service due to the relatively limited computing power of the LoWPAN.
Thus, a method of searching for the information for the service desired by the user agent in the LoWPAN is required.